Swamp Ape IPA | Florida Beer Company

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Reviews by BeTheBall:

Poured a dark amber color witha foamy head. Smell has some hops, but strong sort of rusty overtones. When just out of the fridge, the taste is worse. Like rusty water with some hop sting in tghe back. Not good. When it warms, the hops take over more and the rust sort of recedes, making it at least drinkable. Mouthfeel? who cares when the taste is wrong. I won't make that mistake again.

More User Reviews:

Born in the cavernous anus of a vicious, marsh-dwelling jungle monster, this concoction will leave you confused, trembling and asking for maternal care.

When it touches your lips, you WILL know the taste of an unwashed monkey's bumbum. The visage of the beast shall haunt your dreams, and the bitterness will leave you nevermore. Beware this strange and unholy potion.

I'm not sure about the negative reviews here. I thought this beer was very good. Very nice balance of taste and smell. It leaves a nice hoppy smooth aftertaste. I like a little bit of alcohol bite and this has that. Of course it doesn't compare to a Dogfish Head 120, but what does? Definitely worth a try. I would buy again and again.

My review is a nice smooth IPA which is easy to drink and would match well with any meal or any occasion.

Not sure why this is rated so low. I really liked it. Possibly it's because I had it fresh on tap in Florida. Nice floral aroma with notes of grapefruit and dankness. Hoppy bitterness, grapefruit, some citrus and booze on the tongue. Only thing I wasn't crazy about was the feeling. A bit sticky.

Overall, this is a very good DIPA and I will certainly but it again if I come upon it.

Appearance – This is a nice, murky, orange in color with a modest head.

Smell – The malts are sickly sweet at the nose with some rich caramel mixed with stiff orange rind and light pine. The hops are actually pretty substantial here but they are dwarfed by the sweetish malts and easy to overlook.

Taste – The monster sugary malt hits hard at the taste. I get some cane sugar now with enough sweetness to cause a “sour face.” The “three Cs” are out in force here as well.

Mouthfeel – This is huge, almost full-bodied, with some bittering that would be harsh but again with the sugars it’s all evened out. Carbonation is wanting, however.

Drinkability – I didn’t care much for this beer but for different reasons than most of the other reviews. Everyone is complaining about the sweetness, but this is a local preference so I wasn’t bothered much by the huge sugars. The lack of bitterness and carbonation was the problem for me. Obviously you don’t want your DIPA bubbling like Alka-Seltzer, but this was almost flat and for all the hops lacked that bitter aftertaste characteristic of more sophisticated efforts at the style.

Update - I had a chance to try hit again in Jan 2017 and unlike before it was rightly carbonated with good bitterness. It seems that are having problems with consistency. I'm raising the Mouthfeel rating up a full point but otherwise this is still a mediocre offering.

The head reaches high off a moderate pour; retention is great as well, as is the pale amber clarity of the brew. Pungent, hoppy nose meets a big twang of estery alcohol. Smooth, creamy and a little bitty. The alcohol and hop pro- files are a one-two punch to the palate. Some toasted grain comes through, but the sweet fruity and peppery alcohol esters push it aside. Hop bitterness is a little pungent with a thick, leafy, herbal tone that casts some citric and mint on the taste buds. Esters and a veggie-like hop cling on and make the beer a bit of a chore to drink. Not half bad.

Appearance - This beer is average in carbonation and somewhat light for a typical IPA. It is clear with minimal to no head.

Smell - It has an overall sweet smell with minimal hop aroma. The degree of hops is less than I was expecting.

Taste - This is a sweet IPA that has a little hops flavor. It seems to be more pale ale and less india to me, however I do like it. It is good for being 10% alcohol.

Mouthfeel - This is a light IPA with a smooth consistency.

Overall - This is a good beer overall, but I have had better. I would rank it as an average IPA, and it is quite strong. A feature that I like! I am from Florida and will support this beer. However I have heard that the Florida bigfoot is know as a skunk ape, not swamp ape. Bottoms up!

Poured into a pint glass. Transparent, golden color with a one finger head that quickly fades and leaves a small ring of lacing at the very top of the glass. Aroma is skunked beer and pine hops. I think that is intended and not a rotten beer. The taste follows the nose. The skunked, almost gone bad taste hits first before a wave of bitter pine hops leaves a bitter aftertaste. Full bodied and medium-light carbonation. The alcohol is well hidden. There was no malt whatsoever and the skunk and hops were both very dominant.
I don't understand the thought behind this beer and had to pour it. I couldn't finish it due to the unusual (but purposeful) aroma and hops.